Abstract

The all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is found to have a promising regulatory effect on immune system and inflammatory responses in experimental research. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether this therapeutic efficiency of ATRA could be enhanced by encapsulating into a liposome formulation composed of Distearoyl-Lphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) and cholesterol utilizing a well-established mice model. The humoral antibody titer (HA), delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), bone marrow cellularity, hematology, and levels of α- esterase-positive cells, were taken as parameters to assess the level of immunomodulation in the sheep red blood cells (SRBC) immunized and challenged BALB/c mice. The anti-inflammatory effect of encapsulated ATRA was evaluated by the size changes in the induced inflammation edema in the mice paw as well as its histopathology. The results showed a significant immunostimulatory effect for both the free and encapsulated ATRA as indicated by the increase in the levels of total leukocyte, bone marrow and α-esterase positive cells and decreased Hb level respectively. We have also observed an enhanced specific antibody hemagglutinin titre value and the DTH response developed in response to SRBC challenge in these treatments. Both the immunostimulatory as well as inflammation reducing property were significantly higher in encapsulated ATRA treated group of mice over that of in free ATRA treated group of mice. Based on these results, we conclude that the encapsulated ATRA has a higher potency over free ATRA in its immunomodulatory activity and also has a significant impact on reducing inflammation in BALB/c mice model.